Settlers of Catan Finally Gets the Obvious Accessory

Mike Kayatta

Minister of Secrets
Aug 2, 2011
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Settlers of Catan Finally Gets the Obvious Accessory


The small island of Catan gets protection from stampedes, earthquakes, and escaped T-Rexes.

The hexagonal board of Settlers of Catan is part of the classic German game's real genius. Each time you play, it changes randomly, forcing players to adapt to things like wheat shortages and inconveniently located sheep deposits that hadn't been there the last time you played. But the modularity of such a board comes with a major disadvantage: Much like a glass of water precariously balanced on the dash of an abandoned car in a dinosaur theme park gone awry [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PsGjh6ul7mE], the slightest tremble can often portend disastrous consequences for the island.

Enter The Catan Board (seventeen years late to the game, but hey, who's counting?) an official play mat that finally introduces some sorely needed discipline to those brilliant, yet unstable little resource zones. There's even a way to expand the island with a nifty table-leaf-style mat addition if you're one of those fancy-pants people with more than three friends who needs the 5-6 player expansion

Of course, it will be sad to see the days of my favorite strategy, the "Oh, you took longest road from me, oops I bumped into table with my knees while standing up" technique, fade into memory, but technological progress demands sacrifice, I suppose. No word yet on a release date or price, but the Publishers of Catan have made it clear that you can just buy the mat for your current set, without needing to invest in a whole new copy of the game.

Source: Settlers of Catan Facebook Page [https://www.facebook.com/settlersofcatan]

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Petromir

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Apr 10, 2010
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Essen/SPIEL wouldn't be a bad bet for release, would be odd to announce it just beforehand and then it not appear there.
 

dangoball

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Jun 20, 2011
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Phuctifyno said:
But will there be sheep for my wood?
Ever though of moving to New Zealand? I heard they have enough sheep for everyones wood ;)

OT:
Eh, not much to say, really. I don't even know the game. Just wanted to respond to "sheep for my wood" :p
 

Mike Kayatta

Minister of Secrets
Aug 2, 2011
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Calibanbutcher said:
And here I was hoping they'd made a Jurrasic Park version...
Oh man, that would be fantastic. You could totally do it too; lets see, instead of wool, it could be livestock; instead of ore, it could be massive carnivores; instead of brick, it could be regular carnivores; instead of wheat, it could be vegetation; and instead of wood, it could be it could be herbivores. Roads are roadways for those rail cars, settlements are minor attractions (like restaurants and lab tours), cites are massive attractions like actual dinosaur habitats/exhibits. The Robber is a broken pen/dinosaur escape, and Largest Army is an award for best security.

...

Or, you know, whatever you guys want.
 

NLS

Norwegian Llama Stylist
Jan 7, 2010
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I remember my Portable Catan game came with a board that you could put your lands on. However, it obviously wasn't compatible with the normal sized release, as it was about 1/3rd of the normal size(hence the "Portable").
 

Bindal

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May 14, 2012
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Well, the downside of that thing is that it's obviously not compatible with the first addon. It is with the second and maybe also with the 6-player-extention, but you can't play the sailors-addon.
Granted, that addon came with a frame for the board, but still... kind of bad if you want to play with that addon.
 

Zulnam

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Feb 22, 2010
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I'm confused. Both my vanilla and sailors games came with frames to place around the hexagons. Why is this needed?
 

Platypus540

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May 11, 2011
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Yes! Finally! For some reason the outer pieces that make the hexagon don't quite lock together for my game, and the slightest touch to the sides always seems to result in disaster.
 

eltigraska

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Oct 8, 2012
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For anybody who hasn't seen & is interested: The Catan Board is a kickstarter project located here: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/trammel/the-official-settlers-of-catan-gaming-board